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Schools

Grading Teachers, Honoring Paras, and Trying to Stay Afloat in This Economy

Tuesday's school board meeting covered a gamut of items.

Students must constantly adapt to new grading policies, and now it seems teachers will too. That much was revealed at the Board of Trustees meeting on Tuesday.

That's when Assistant Superintendent Dr. Kathleen Mooney presented the guidelines for Annual Professional Performance Review, or APPR.

The guidelines are designed to help ensure that teachers have the proper accreditation. Essentially, the APPR is a review guide on which teachers and principals are graded. If for any reason a teacher or principal receives an ineffective grade on consecutive reviews, that teacher or principal can be removed from his or her position.

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Teachers and principals can also appeal their grading.  This is based on nine areas of criteria, ranging from a teacher's content knowledge to their instructional delivery, to the newest addition, student growth.

The newest criterion is non-negotiable and can pose problems for the district.

"One of my biggest fears is how do you grade student growth?" asked Larry Greenstein, a board member. "If a kid gets a 95 one year and a 90 the next, was his teacher ineffective? I feel as if the state is going to possibly impose a quota for APPR guidelines."

"Aside from the initial costs of training administrators on these guidelines, this has the potential to cost a lot of money and unfortunately, this is state mandated," said William Hohauser, the school board vice president. 

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"I think we may inadvertently lose some good teachers because of this," Greenstein said.

In addition to Mooney's lecture, the school board took time out to honor Paraprofessionals for School Related Personnel Day.

"Often times, paras are unsung heroes. They help to make certain that kids who would not otherwise, have the same opportunities that other children have, and for that I want to thank you," Dr. Gordon said.

"On behalf of the board, I want to thank all School Related Personnel for all that you do," President Karen Sloan said.

In other news, Budget Chair Bob Ryan continued his quest to recall school district serial bonds, as the board voted to approve a resolution authorizing the issuance, not to exceed $25 million, refunding bonds and providing a summary form of the resolution in the district papers.

According to Assistant Superintendent Mary Callahan, this resolution, once drafted and finalized, will have to be voted on by the district.

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